| Founded | c. 1950s |
|---|---|
| Founders | Bernard "Bernie" McLaughlin |
| Founding location | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Years active | c. 1950s–1966 |
| Territory | Charlestown |
| Ethnicity | PredominantlyIrish American |
| Activities | Racketeering, gambling, loan sharking, extortion, armed robbery, theft, murder |
| Allies | |
| Rivals |
TheCharlestown Gang, also known as theMcLaughlin Gang, was anIrish Americanorganized crimegang based in theCharlestown neighborhood ofBoston,Massachusetts. The gang was headed by the McLaughlin brothersBernie, Georgie, andEdward "Punchy" McLaughlin, along with their primary enforcers, the brothers Stevie and Cornelius "Connie" Hughes. The gang's associates includedWill Delaney, Harry Hannon, William Bennett, Edward Bennett, John Shackelford, Frank Murray, Leo Lowry, Ron Dermody and Joe "Rockball" O'Rourke.
The Charlestown Gang became involved in a gang war with a rivalIrish mob group, theWinter Hill Gang ofSomerville led byJames "Buddy" McLean, beginning in 1961. By 1966, two of the McLaughlin brothers, Bernie and "Punchy", had been killed, while the other, Georgie, was sentenced to life in prison for murder. The Hughes brothers suffered almost identical fates, as they were both shot to death on separate occasions.
TheIrish American McLaughlin siblings from theCharlestown neighborhood ofBoston originally consisted of five brothers, two of whom were killed inWorld War II. The remaining brothers wereEdward "Punchy" McLaughlin, a prize fighter and enforcer;Bernard "Bernie" McLaughlin, a gang leader and organizer; and George "Georgie" McLaughlin, a psychopathic and violent alcoholic. The McLaughlin brothers had a reputation as a treacherous, ruthless, and murderous gang.[1] The brothers controlled gambling and loan sharking on the docks around theBoston Navy Yard in Charlestown.[2][3]
The McLaughlin brothers forged ties with theMafia, carrying out contract killings for thePatriarca crime family in Boston and theGenovese crime family inNew York City.[2] In the late 1950s, the brothers aligned themselves with New York gangsters in an attempt to take control of waterfront rackets in Boston, but the move was successfully resisted by an alliance of hoodlums fromSomerville andSouth Boston. A truce followed, during which the McLaughlin brothers and their partners, the brothers Stevie and Cornelius "Connie" Hughes, would regularly drink with gangsters from the neighboring suburb of Somerville, includingJames "Buddy" McLean andJoseph "Joe Mac" McDonald, at the Celtic Tavern in Charlestown.[3]
During a party atSalisbury Beach onLabor Day weekend 1961, Georgie McLaughlin made an advance on the girlfriend ofAlexander "Bobo" Petricone, a member of the SomervilleWinter Hill Gang.[4] McLaughlin was subsequently beaten unconscious by Somerville gangsters and dumped outside Anna Jaques Hospital inNewburyport.[5] Bernie McLaughlin then visited Winter Hill Gang leader McLean at his headquarters, the Tap Royal Bar in theWinter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, and demanded that he hand over the members of the gang who beat his brother, to which McLean refused.[6]
In the early hours of October 30, 1961, Bernie[6] and Georgie McLaughlin[3] and another unidentified man were planting acar bomb on the undercarriage of McLean's automobile, which was parked outside his home, when the sleeping McLean was awakened by his barking dog.[1] McLean chased off the three Charlestown gangsters by firing at them with aLuger pistol, and found five sticks ofdynamite attached to his car.[7][8] The following afternoon, McLean and two accomplices tracked down Bernie McLaughlin as he collected loan sharking debts and shot him dead in front of over a hundred witnesses outside the Morning Glory Café in Charlestown'sCity Square.[3][6]
In early 1962, the McLaughlin Gang bombed the unoccupied car of Petricone's wife, prompting him to flee Boston. Afterwards, there was a lull in hostilities between the Charlestown and Winter Hill gangs as McLean was sentenced to two years in prison.[6] Although he was arrested for McLaughlin's murder, the charge was dismissed when witnesses refused to testify, and he was convicted of weapons offenses.[3]
The corruptFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agentH. Paul Rico aligned with the Charlestown Mob's Somerville rivals after he heard Georgie and "Punchy" McLaughlin make disparaging remarks on an illegalwiretap.[9][10] The McLaughlins accused Rico of having a homosexual threesome with his bosses,J. Edgar Hoover andClyde Tolson, and referred to the FBI men as "fags". "Punchy" McLaughlin also threatened the brother of Dennis Condon, Rico's FBI partner.[11] Rico began leaking information to the Winter Hill Gang which allowed them to track down members of the McLaughlin Gang.[12]
At a christening party in Boston'sRoxbury neighborhood on March 15, 1964, Georgie McLaughlin was involved in a drunken argument with another partygoer who had spoken fondly of McLean.[6] McLaughlin returned to the party after leaving to retrieve a gun, and fatally shot another man, bank teller William "Billy" Sheriden, in error.[2]
On May 3, 1964, Charlestown Mob member Frank Benjamin was shot in the head and killed by the brothersVincent "Jimmy the Bear" Flemmi andStephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi, who were loyal to the Winter Hill Gang, at a bar owned by Stephen Flemmi after he had threatened to kill McLean and other Somerville gangsters.[2] Because the gun used to kill Benjamin belonged to a corrupt Boston police officer, the Flemmi brothers decapitated Benjamin to avoid being identified by ballistic tests run on the bullet in Benjamin's head. Benjamin's decapitated body was found in the trunk of a stolen car in South Boston, while his head was buried.[13]
The Winter Hill Gang made their first attempt on the life of "Punchy" McLaughlin on November 23, 1964, shotgunning him as he entered his car outside the Beaconsfield Hotel inBrookline.[1][14] Despite having half his jaw blown off, McLaughlin survived after he was rushed to Boston'sBeth Israel Hospital.[15] The Roxbury gangster Earl Smith arranged a meeting with McLaughlin in a parking garage at the hospital. McLaughlin was then ambushed by two Winter Hill gunmen, Stephen Flemmi andFrancis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme, disguised as rabbis. He again survived his wounds.[16]
Wanted for the murder of Sheriden, Georgie McLaughlin was added to theFBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.[10] After the FBI located the fugitive gangster hiding out in theDorchester neighborhood of Boston, Rico obtained a "throwdown" revolver from Stephen Flemmi which he planned to plant on McLaughlin after shooting him during his arrest. Rico abandoned the plan, however, due to concerns that another FBI agent may not assent to the killing, and McLaughlin was captured without incident on February 24, 1965.[11][17] He was convicted of Sheriden's murder and sentenced to life in prison atBay State Correctional Center inNorfolk.[10]
On August 16, 1965, the third murder attempt was made on "Punchy" McLaughlin when Somerville gunmen ambushed him as he arrived in his car at his girlfriend's house inWestwood.[18] AlthoughHoward "Howie" Winter blew McLaughlin's right hand off using a scopedWinchester rifle, McLaughlin escaped following a car chase alongRoute 128.[1]
"Punchy" McLaughlin was killed on the fourth attempt, shot seven times as he boarded a bus on October 20, 1965.[19]
In November 1965, McLaughlin Gang associate John "Maxie" Shackleford survived a shooting in Charlestown. He subsequently fled the Boston area.[20]
John Locke, a minor member of the McLaughlin Gang and one of the few remaining Charlestown gangsters, was found shot to death after being thrown onto a snowbank in the parking lot ofWonderland station inRevere in March 1967.[21]
